Ali 'Imran 3:121–151

These verses were revealed after the Battle of Uhud which took place in the third year after hijrah. The enemy forces numbered three thousand, while the Muslims who rose in defence were initially only one thousand in number. When three hundred hypocritical Muslims, led by ‘Abdullah ibn Ubayy, deserted, some of the Madinan Muslims were disheartened at this, so the Prophet reminded them that they had come forth to defend themselves, relying on God rather than only on themselves. If, due to the severity of circumstances, believers show some temporary weakness, God does not leave them to fend for themselves. He sends His special succour to restore their faith. This special succour of God was sent to the whole group of believers at a time when, by exploiting the weakness of the Muslims, the enemies had overcome them, and had every opportunity to crush the Muslim forces completely. But the enemy army, in spite of being victorious, retreated from the battlefield. This astonishing event in military history took place because of the special divine succour, which diverted the enemy towards ‘Makkah’ rather than ‘Madinah’ (the Muslim area). It was the defeated who pursued the victorious.

Believers should never be upset at any lack of manpower or resources. When small in number, they should have the conviction that God will amply compensate for this by sending angels down to help them. When confronted with inadequate resources, they should trust God to create such situations as will compensate for this deficiency. Success depends more on patience and being God-fearing (taqwa) than on material resources. Those who fear and trust God can receive His divine succour in two ways: first, by His causing a section of the enemy to be brought to repentance and submission, thus reducing their number; and second, by His bringing about their outright defeat. The first kind of God’s succour comes by way of dawah work. God opens to the truth the hearts of those opponents, who have some receptivity in them, and thus they join the believers. In this way they weaken the enemy forces and strengthen the believers’ ranks. By the second method, God gives strength and courage to the believers and enables them to emerge victorious.

Engaging in usury is the ultimate in money worship. A usurer thinks day in and day out as to how to double and quadruple his money. But what he ought to pursue relentlessly is not the acquisition of material things but his entry into Paradise in the Hereafter. He ought to be ever eager to attain God’s mercy and blessing, but not by increasing his worldly wealth in order to guarantee himself a life of grandeur in this world. Honour and success are of no importance when compared to Paradise, the pleasure and enjoyment of which are immeasurable. Wise is the one who pursues God’s Paradise. Hastening towards it means giving away more and more of one’s wealth for the cause of God. The way to worldly success is to increase one’s riches, while the way to success in the Hereafter is to decrease one’s riches. If the inspiration to tread the former path is the love of money, the inspiration towards the latter is the love of God and His Messenger. If the ‘wealth’ of the former is worldly profit, the ‘wealth’ of the latter is the profit of the Hereafter. Where those desirous of riches have the fear of worldly loss, those of a spiritual bent of mind fear loss in the Hereafter.

Those who fear God lead their lives as if God is watching over them, that is, as if all their actions are performed so as to be more and more pleasing in the eyes of God. Instead of leading a life of licentiousness, they lead a life of constraint. The requirements of the religion of God become their own requirements and for that they spend in charity under all circumstances, irrespective of whether they have much or little. When enraged, they control themselves. When there is a cause for complaint, they forgive instead of reacting negatively. They too fall into error, but that is only temporary. They immediately realize their mistake and return to God, spontaneously invoking His forgiveness and seeking His mercy. Whatever has been stated verbally in the Quran is borne out by the events of Islamic history. But advice is heeded only by those who are keen to have it.

Accepting faith amounts to making a pledge to lead one’s life according to God’s commandments. God has promised the believers success in this world and Paradise in the next. Besides this, He will confer upon those who have suffered rejection in this world, the foremost honour of being chosen as witnesses in His court. And it will be on the basis of their evidence that the eternal fate of all human beings will be decided. But one will not receive this status merely on the strength of verbal claims to have embraced the faith; each individual will have necessarily to prove his genuineness in terms of the patience he has exercised on earth and his struggle for the cause of God. Difficulties and obstacles will be placed by others in the path of the believer in both cases, that is, whether he wants to base his personal life on faith and belief or stand before others as a witness of the religion of God. Persevering in God’s cause while facing all odds and difficulties along the way is a form of struggle, or jihad, while standing by one’s pledges and never taking an emotional step are a form of patience, or sabr. Whichever group struggles while remaining patient and peaceful will be successful in this world of God as well as in the Hereafter. It is people such as these who are deserving candidates for Paradise.

When an individual resolves to follow the path of God, he is confronted with many kinds of problems and difficulties created by others. Sometimes these problems produce in him a state of uncertainty; sometimes they make him think of opting for a policy of expediency; sometimes they arouse negative feelings within him; sometimes he is tempted to embrace such a version of God’s religion as has great public appeal. Herein lies the test of man in the present world. Whatever reaction man shows on such occasions serves as an indicator of whether he is false or true in his acceptance of faith. If his actions correspond to his verbal claim of faith, he is true, and if not, he is false. Becoming God’s witness is the final destination of this journey. Let us imagine a servant of God who comes forward as a preacher of truth before the people. He himself fully practises what he preaches. People may regard him as insignificant, but he does not mind. He faces difficulties, but he is not discouraged; he perseveres in sending out the call of truth. He is neither disheartened nor given to negative thinking. Even when he has to pay the price with his life and property, his stand is not shaken. This test is a momentous one; but it is as a result of his passing this test that God selects him to be a witness in His divine court. When, despite all sorts of adverse situations, man continues to perform the task of conveying the divine message, he proves that he is convinced of the truth of the message he preaches. Furthermore, this also shows that the message he conveys to others is not just a trivial matter, but an extremely serious one.

During the battle of Uhud, a cry was raised that the Messenger had been slain. This news seriously depressed certain Muslims. But the real servants of God are those whose religiosity is not based on a human personality. God requires a religiosity that attaches His servants with all their hearts and souls to the one God. A believer is one who follows Islam for the truth of its principles rather than for the support of some human individual. One who enters the fold of Islam in this way, finds it such a blessing that his spirit overflows with feelings of gratitude to God. He begins to regard the Hereafter, and not this world, as his all in all. Life becomes to him a transient thing, for he knows that he is going to be faced with death at any point of time. He is able to discern the universe as a divine workshop, where each happening takes place at God’s will and where God is both the Giver and the Taker.

People who realize these truths are the true followers of the path of God. If God wills, they are invested with honour and power in this world as well, and so far as the eternal and superior rewards of the Hereafter are concerned, these too are reserved for them. However, this status is earned only when the believer has passed all the tests, when his eyes are set on God, even when all the apparent supports have crumbled away. His life being at risk fails to depress him. He does not retreat even when he sees the destruction of his worldly position before his very eyes. He regards any loss he incurs as the result of his own shortcomings. He holds himself responsible for it, and seeks forgiveness from God. When he is blessed with some good thing, he knows that it comes from God and he is thankful to Him. Such people become deserving candidates for all kinds of blessings showered upon them by their Creator. They who have thus discovered God are the most precious of souls and have themselves wholeheartedly enrolled in God’s plan. Remaining united at crucial moments and adhering strictly and with patience to the truth are the qualities that make believers deserving of divine succour.

The temporary defeat of the Muslims at the battle of Uhud gave an opportunity to the opponents of Islam to prove their stand that the credo of the Prophet and his companions was not a divine matter. It was just the boyish enthusiasm of certain people and now they were suffering for it. Their enemies would point out that had it pertained to God, they would never have been defeated at the hands of their opponents. However, such happenings, even if the results of the Muslims’ own errors, are, at all events, ‘test papers’ from God. A happening like that of Uhud must take place in this world in order to find out who are the ones who truly trust in God and who are the ones who are to fall by the wayside. Such happenings serve as a two-sided trial for the believer. He passes the test only if he perseveres at all times, is not influenced by the adverse remarks of others and is not discouraged by temporary setbacks.